Visit England, the national tourist board, has embraced the GTE initiative and was represented at the International Golf Travel Market by CEO James Berresford, who participated in a Destination Briefing to highlight England’s remarkable golf tourism potential.
He said: “With over 1,900 golf courses, including famous golf courses such as Royal Birkdale, Royal St George’s, The Belfry and Wentworth, England is well placed to become one of the world’s major golfing destinations and capture a sizeable share of the estimated €15bn global golf travel market.
“Combine this with England’s celebrated cultural and historic attractions, great sporting events, modern vibrant cities and superb food and drink offering and you have all the ingredients for a truly memorable golfing holiday.
“Surprisingly, however, we’re not yet considered one of the world’s top destinations for a golf holiday. There is enormous potential to grow golf tourism to England and, over the coming months, VisitEngland will be working with Golf Tourism England and England Golf to develop a national golf tourism strategy.”
He added: “We will be developing a number of fantastic itineraries incorporating England’s most popular links, heathland and parkland courses, some hidden gems, our greatest attractions and delicious local food and drink. We look forward to sharing those ideas with golfers around the world to ensure that England’s magnificent golfing offer is right where it should be – top of every golfers holiday list!”